1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to a switch configuration for a keying operation and, more particularly, to a key-entry switch device (hereinafter referred to as key switch) preferably used for a keyboard incorporated as an input device in electronic equipment.
2. Description of Related Art
User input devices are used with many types of electronic devices to input data and commands. It is well known that a user may have to press more than one key of a keyboard at the same time to input a desired character or command. For example, the “1” key of the keyboard of a desktop computer can be used for both “1” and “!”. If the user presses just the one key, the default signal “1” is input. If, however, the user wants to input the “!” character, then the user should press and hold the “shift” key and then press the “1” key.
The above becomes even more inconvenient when adopted by handheld or portable devices such as PDAs, where space is at a premium and it is difficult to selectively press more than one key at a time. Therefore, what is needed is a key switch that can generate several different signals.